Photo contributed by Marie Krebs.
Marie Krebs, a graduate student in the University of Iowa’s School of Social Work, is leaving the university after facing disciplinary action for a presentation she and a classmate gave on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, at a national social work conference in October.
The presentation, which focused on the experiences of students of color in the program and Iowa’s new anti-DEI legislation, drew criticism from UI leadership, ultimately leading Krebs to decide she could no longer continue her education at the university.
Kimberly Long, Krebs’ then-classmate and co-presenter, has since graduated from the UI’s Master of Social Work program but said if she were still a student, she would likely make the same choice as Krebs.
“After this happened, I’d either be getting kicked out, or I would probably leave,” Long said. “Because I refuse to be part of what’s happening, and I want to be proud of my degree, too.”
Krebs said she and Long developed their conference presentation to showcase work they had been doing outside the classroom. Long, who had witnessed and experienced racial harm against students of color, founded the Multicultural School of Social Work in fall 2023 to give graduate students a space to share their experiences.
“Not feeling safe in the classroom, not feeling like their experience was valued, that what they brought to the classroom wasn’t valued,” Long said, describing the negative experiences graduate students shared with her in confidence.
Krebs, who is Indigenous, said she aimed to share her experience in the School of Social Work while highlighting Iowa’s anti-DEI legislation, which had passed but had yet to take effect.
Already raising awareness through her work with the Indigenous-led nonprofit Great Plains Action Society, she felt it was crucial to address the issue — especially since the legislation was backed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, who appoints the state’s Board of Regents which governs the UI.
Long explained Iowa’s anti-DEI legislation directly conflicts with the Council on Social Work Education’s accreditation standards, which the UI School of Social Work must meet. According to its website, the Council on Social Work Education, or CSWE, emphasizes a degree in social work must equip graduates with a strong commitment to advocating for “justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity.”
“I think it’s important for other social workers and other people in academia to know what is happening in a state like ours,” Long said. “If DEI is needed for accreditation, and it very clearly is with the CSWE, I hoped the School of Social Work would lean into that and really double down.”
Emphasizing her positive experiences with several professors and classes, Krebs said she was excited about the presentation and hoped it would constructively highlight gaps between the School of Social Work and the experiences of its students of color.
“In my opinion, it was fantastic,” Krebs said of the experience at the conference. “If we can’t have an adult social work conversation among social workers, where can we have this conversation?”
Long said the experience and feedback they received after the presentation were overwhelmingly positive.
“The goal was always to create change and to be collaborative,” Long said. “These are the social work values that we’re learning, and we really want to live them.”
Despite positive feedback from attendees, Long and Krebs said after returning home from the conference, they received an email from Miriam Landsman, director of the School of Social Work, raising concerns about one element of their presentation — a three-minute clip from “Wild Bill’s Cup of Social Justice,” a podcast featuring UI Social Work faculty, staff, and students discussing social justice in the field.
Long and Krebs said they included a clip of adjunct professor Taylor Ford discussing how, as a white woman, she hadn’t realized until years into her career that patients of color might prefer a clinician who looks like them. They stressed their intent was not to criticize Ford but to underscore the importance of DEI in social work education.
Given that the clip came from a publicly available podcast, they had not anticipated it being a point of contention.
“It was a beautiful moment to reflect on what an education at a predominantly white institution might look like and how they might do better,” Long said.
Krebs and Long said Landsman reprimanded them for including the clip, claiming it could potentially cause harm to Ford.
“We kept asking, ‘What is the harm? This is on your own website,’” Long said. “I still cannot understand that. And we haven’t gotten a clear answer of what the harm could be.”
Steve Schmadeke, public relations manager for the UI, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that Landsman was not available for an interview or comment.
Krebs said Landsman repeatedly emailed her requesting a copy of the presentation to confirm whether Ford was mentioned by name, but she and Long refused to provide it. Long described the increasing challenges she faced as a student while pushing leadership to address concerns raised by students of color — efforts that ultimately led to the presentation.
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“[Landsman] said this was a conversation that should have happened inside the School of Social Work,” Long said. “And my response to that is we tried several ways to try to get change to happen in the School of Social Work.”
After a series of back-and-forth emails, Krebs said she sent her final response to Landsman on Nov. 9, requesting clarification on the policy requiring her to share the whole presentation. She said Landsman never replied, and the next communication came instead in the form of a letter signed by Associate Dean for Natural, Mathematical, and Social Sciences Christopher Cheatum and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Graduate Student Success Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez.
The letter asserted Krebs had no grounds to withhold the presentation, arguing it was created using university resources and partially funded by the School of Social Work. It further stated refusing to submit a full copy would violate the Student Code of Conduct and could lead to disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion.
“I was kind of freaking out at that point,” Krebs said.
Ultimately, Krebs responded by emphasizing her presentation was independent research conducted on her personal computer. She also noted she declined the university’s funding offer for travel costs to the symposium.
“I was presenting from my personal experience,” Krebs said.
Still refusing to turn over the presentation, Krebs received a disciplinary reprimand from the Office of Student Accountability for failing to comply with a university directive.
“I will carry that with honor,” Krebs said. “I failed to comply.”
However, Krebs said following this experience, she chose to finish her master’s degree elsewhere.
“I strongly believe that I can’t keep investing my money or my student debt here,” Krebs said.
Despite the backlash, Krebs emphasized the presentation was meant to be constructive — not combative.
“None of this was some kind of gotcha to the university,” Long said. “It was like, ‘Here’s our experience in this institution, and this is what we’d like to see change.’”